lazer hp 52 deck clogging

I was wondering if any one is having problems with thir deck clogging. I have a hp 52 with kol 23 2002 model. It will clogg in dewe grass. The grass will build up under deck haff to disengage blades so grass will fall out from deack. I noticed mower pulls down in thick grass to. any suggestions? thanks shawn

they may want to know this when they get in monday, so i'll ask. what blades are you running? mulch kit? side discharging? ultravac-ing? also if you have changed the blades, where did you put the spacers from blade to spindle? how many i mean. what height are you cutting at?

Thanks for the questions. This is something we see in many of the "northern" grasses during different stages of the cutting season. It all comes down to the amount of moisture in the blade of grass and not the moisture on the surface of the blade or on top of the lawn. But now what to do about it.

If your mulching this can be even more difficult because the dew mimic spring cutting conditions to a degree. This of course means the grass balls up and clumps and sticks. If you are mulching you may want to try flattening out the deck rake a little bit. Have your dealer level it off between zero rake and 1/8".

Part of the problem is the exceptional lift we get from the design of the deck. Often the deck will pack the roof first. Most other deck designs will pack the skirt first which indicates lack of lift or air control. If you side discharging one of the best things you can do is increase your ground speed. The theory here is "garbage in garbage out". By getting more stuff coming in the front side your pushing more stuff through the deck and pushing it all out the discharge chute. In some conditions it rather remarkable how increasing your ground speed can reduce deck build up.

Other options would be to back the throttle off a 1/4" or so. This will slightly reduce the lift under load but still give you what you need of that "manicured look". You can also use one of the sprays that are available now to prevent deck build up. These are sprayed to the underside of the deck each morning and the feedback we get is that it will help for the first few lawns anyway. Another option is a Teflon paint that is used in the ag industry to prevent grain from sticking to the trailers, augers etc. It goes under several names but the one I'm most familiar with is called "slip plate". The most common option is to simply throttle down and throttle up at the end of each pass. This helps reduce the build up under the deck but the blades are still spinning fast enough that it does not "dump" in the middle of the lawn. Often this can get you through each lawn until the dew dissipates.

You also mentioned that the engine also pulls down in thick grass. First get the engine inspected. Have them look at governor adjustments, choke adjustments, plugs, check the air filer and engine rpms. All of these can effect blade tips speed and power. You may also find that the pulling down of the engine is due to the build up under the deck. The fuller the deck is the more horsepower it will require. The deck is trying to move as much air as it does when the deck is clean but now it must compress that same amount of air into a smaller shorter chamber.